


Queen Poppy's Comprehensive List of Things She Loves About Queen Barb

by el_vip



Category: Trolls (2016), Trolls World Tour (2020)
Genre: F/F, List Styled, Self-Indulgent, there are a couple of other character mentions but it's not about them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:15:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24450418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/el_vip/pseuds/el_vip
Summary: A list of Barb's best and more endearing features from Poppy's perspective and why she loves them.
Relationships: Queen Barb/Queen Poppy (Trolls)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 80





	Queen Poppy's Comprehensive List of Things She Loves About Queen Barb

**Author's Note:**

> me, using a relationship as a vehicle to talk about my favourite character? it's more likely than you think!

i.

How Barb smiles.

It’s always a little crooked, the corner pulled up a little higher in the right. It makes it look more like a sneer, but when it hits her eyes it’s so obvious when it comes from her being happy. It’s a little rakish and a little mischievous and when it gets bigger and she grins, it lights up her whole face. 

Barb only ever smiles when she means it, too. She doesn’t fake smiles for things or people that annoy her or when she’s upset by something, so when her face does split in a grin, it’s all the more important. That goes twice as much for whoever manages to be the one who actually makes her smile. Poppy makes an effort to try and get one at least once every time they hang out and it makes her stomach flutter and her body feel light every single time. 

When the grin gets big too, it shows off Barb’s teeth and Poppy loves those too. On a technicality, she can usually see her teeth on account of the slight overbite that the absolutely adorable snaggletooth she has gives her sometimes and Poppy thinks that’s just as perfectly special as the flash of pearly whites she gets from a grin. Barb’s teeth are sharper than Poppy’s - Barb says it’s because they have a meatier diet - and they’re cute too. 

Sometimes they make her look more menacing when she grits them and snarls with them, but then she turns back to Poppy and the twist of her mouth is pleased again and everything’s light and wonderful. 

ii.

How striking Barb’s eyes are. 

They’re a pretty colour, sheened pink in the sclera and a much brighter pink in the iris. The pink matches Poppy’s skin and fuzz and the way Barb’s cheeks burned when Poppy first pointed it out to her was sweet. 

They’re big and round too, which makes them expressive. Barb tends to be pretty physically open about what she’s feeling, Poppy’s found, but she also thinks that even if she was trying to be stoic, she wouldn’t be able to. She wouldn’t be able to because everything she feels is always right there in her eyes. 

The rest of her face seems to mould around them, scrunch up when she gets mad and they narrow, soften out a little when she smiles and they crinkle around the edges. They’re pretty and a kind of transparent Poppy appreciates. She could stare into them for hours. In a literal sense, if Barb didn’t get embarrassed or uncomfortable when Poppy looks at her for too long. She still takes every brief second she can to sneak a glance. 

iii. 

How Barb’s hair is the most brilliant shade of red. 

It’s bright and eye-catching, which is just how she likes it, and it brings a lovely pop of colour to the generally dull mixture of hues that the rock trolls all sport. There are also just the faintest tufts of black showing under the red, that Barb likes to avoid questions about. Poppy can tell she’ll eventually come clean about dying it and she’s perfectly happy to wait for that conversation, so she can turn around and ask for a go herself. Maybe something in blue.

The dark colour shows up in the buzz on the sides of her mohawk too, a sort of peachy fuzz that’s a little spiky when it’s been shaved down recently and unbelievably soft when it’s been a day or two. Poppy loves to rub her fingers over it in both cases, enjoying both the little prickles and the velvety smoothness. Barb squirms sometimes when she does it, which is also pretty cute. 

And of course, speaking of soft, Barb’s mohawk, for all the grime and grease of Volcano Rock City, is actually super fluffy. It’s a little more like straw than Poppy’s own, drier because of the heat that comes with living in and around a volcano, but Barb takes care of it. Just because her style is dishevelled doesn’t mean she doesn’t take pride in it, she’s said, and the results of her efforts mean Poppy takes delight in every time she manages to get her fingers tangled in the red, every time she gets the chance to play with it. 

iv.

How Barb finds it easy to scoop her right up off the ground.

Poppy’s asked about this one and found out it’s another rock troll thing, but Barb is plenty strong. In a totally literal sense. It was most obvious when they were rebuilding their villages, but things that’d usually take a trio of her pop trolls, Barb could just pluck up off the ground and lug wherever they were needed. The other rock trolls too, probably, but Poppy was always busy watching Barb. 

Now they’re best friends and a little bit more, Barb has a tendency to pick Poppy up whenever she sees her, spinning her around in her arms as a greeting. It always happens so easily and Poppy’s found that Barb finds it just as easy to pick up anyone else. The soft spot she has for kids - that she’d never admit out loud, even if she shows it off openly - means that she’ll hold as many of the little ones as can fit on her body, whenever she lets herself be used as a jungle gym. It happens more often than Poppy would have first thought.

She tested it out once, asked Barb to carry things around for her, and she was happy to oblige until the things piled into her arms were high enough to hide her from view. Then Poppy gave up on the pretence and asked straight out for a demonstration and Barb obliged again, all too willing to show off the limits of her strength. Poppy remembers her showboating a lot, not that she found herself minding. Barb knows how much she likes her strength now anyway and takes every chance she can get to show it off in front of her, easy as anything and with a grin to match. Poppy’s yet to not find it just as exciting as the first time to be bundled up in a hug, lifted right off the floor, and swung around until they’re both a little dizzy. 

v.

How killer Barb’s sense of style is. 

Obviously Poppy knows this just from glancing at her. Nearly everything she owns is torn in some place or another, but Barb wears ripped up shirts and shorts and leggings with a confidence that Poppy thinks is incredible. It makes her seem a little dangerous. She is, Poppy knows, but it’s a fun dangerous that gives her a buzz sometimes when she hangs out with her. The colour palette always catches Poppy’s eye because most rock trolls are a little duller than she’s used to, but Barb has that bright shock of red and she throws other colours in there too, to make sure she stands out. 

Poppy likes it best when Barb wears a little pink and gets to turn it around and be the one to say they match, only she winks as she does it, and Poppy gets butterflies again. 

The ash she smears over her eyelids and the charcoal she draws dark circles around them with are fascinating touches. They make her eyes brighter and sometimes a little harsher. Her eyelashes are naturally way long than Poppy’s - which she’s only a little bit jealous about - but she darkens them as well, as if to draw more attention to the perpetual metronome between the glares and glee of her gaze. 

They swapped styles once, even though Poppy already had her turn as a rocker, and Barb looked pretty in brighter colours and less torn clothes, but even though the swap was interesting, Poppy wouldn’t really change out the way Barb dresses for the world. 

vi.

How lovely Barb’s voice is. 

Yes, obviously Poppy loves when Barb sings. When she’s belting out a rock song at the top of her lungs and basking in the euphoria of the crowds that always swarm her, it’s electrifying to watch and it doesn’t hurt that her voice always sounds good. It’s powerful. She sings like she’s got something to prove to the world and prove it she does. 

She does softer songs on occasion, but only when she’s with Poppy. She’ll stretch over a chair or the floor with an electric guitar in her lap, not plugged into anything, twanging out a ballad. They’re always softer than the hard rock she entertains her people with and they frame her voice so well, all soft and hushed, and it makes Poppy feel like it’s her being sung to and only ever her. Like Barb’s reserved the gentle touch in her voice for her. 

It’s nice when she talks too. Every word is always infused with feeling, always something full-on and complete, whether good or bad. Her voice is deep, smooth beyond the wavering of whatever might be bothering her. The fact she uses her voice as often as she does is something Poppy admires. She’s never quiet about anything, whether she’s talking about how much she hates something or how much she loves it. It’s quick to rise to a shout when she needs to get control over people or stop them, but falls to a friendly hush just as easily when she’s crouched and ruffling the hair of any of the kids who run around her feet. 

vii.

How good Barb is with her hands. 

Not like that! Not completely, anyway. It’s mostly about how good she is with her guitar. She has a favourite, the one shaped like a battle-axe, and she touches it with abject reverence. There are some that Poppy knows she throws around and smashes into little pieces when she’s angry, but her favourite never gets that treatment. 

Every time Barb plays, she’s confident and her fingers move at a speed that Poppy doesn’t know how to comprehend sometimes. Each chord, every strum of her fingers - she rarely ever uses a pick - is purposeful, produces a perfect sound, gets followed up by another note in half a second to fill in the silence. She goes hard on the solos when she’s up on stage and she produces just as much powerful music as she does when she’s singing. The soft pluck of strings when it’s just them and something slow is always perfect too. 

Poppy likes to hold Barb’s hands too. They’re rougher than her own, a mixture between heat and callouses from playing, but they grip tight, as if she wouldn’t give up the contact for the world. 

viii.

How Barb’s expressiveness extends to her ears as well. 

They’re more pointed - another rock troll thing - than Poppy’s and they move way more. They twitch at almost everything and prick up or down as a reflexive expression of her emotions. They perk up when she’s happy and when she’s annoyed or stressed or a little upset, they flatten out to varying degrees. Her earrings jangle each time they move and every time Poppy hears the noise she starts thinking about asking Barb to pierce her ears too. 

Barb hasn’t told her about the torn-off chunk of the left one yet, but Poppy likes to touch it, skim her fingers over the jagged, healed up scarring, give it little kisses sometimes. It makes Barb go red again and then her ears dip in embarrassment and Poppy can’t help but squeal about how cute it is. 

ix.

How quickly Barb gets angry to defend other people. 

Sure, Poppy knows Barb has a temper in general. Plenty of her closer rock troll friends are a little afraid of her because of it, even if they know she’d never hurt any of them. And yes, Poppy knows that a lot of the time, Barb’s temper is unleashed on something inane that’s pushed her too far and doesn’t actually mean anything in the grand scheme of things. 

But Barb also gets angry at people who are jerks, especially when those people are jerks to people she cares about. When Poppy first told her about all the getting eaten business, she’d had to practically hold her back from marching straight into the Bergen’s homes by herself and while she hasn’t said anything out loud, Poppy’s pretty sure she’s been to visit Creek at least once, if only to stand in his doorway and stare at him with all the venom she can muster. Which, knowing Barb, is a lot of venom. 

Poppy also knows that as quick and Barb gets riled up, it only takes a few soft words to settle her down again, and she takes high pride in being able to do that. 

x.

How Barb is really, really smart. 

People seem to underestimate that about her - Poppy’s pretty sure that’s partially due to the sheer frequency at which Barb hits her head against things but that’s another horse of a different colour entirely. She thinks people have the same ideas about her, that pop and rock aren’t necessarily the most intelligent forms of music, but that’s not true at all. 

Barb managed to almost conquer the world and take everyone’s strings, which was not necessarily a great thing to do, but clearly took planning and effort and intelligence. And Poppy managed to stop her from doing that just at the right moment, which makes her pretty self-assured in her own smarts. 

She thinks they’re both pretty good at defying people’s expectations of how clever they should be, and they’re different kinds of smart, so their brains complement each other. There was more of a flushed response from Barb at that, too. 

xi.

How Barb is (usually) completely well-intentioned. 

Okay, sure, the world tour had been badly executed and was all around a pretty evil thing for Barb to do. Even then, Poppy has to admit her heart was kind of in the right place. 

The joy in destruction and world domination wasn’t great, but the fact that Barb only wanted to gather the strings to unite everyone after forever of fighting between different kinds of trolls and some of them not even knowing about the other kinds existing is at least a little noble. Poppy wanted to unite everyone too! Though, she’ll certainly admit less cruel intention. 

Poppy’s forgiven Barb for the incident and plenty of instances since have showcased her strong sense of justice and the fact that she’s usually on the right side of it, despite her rougher tendencies. 

xii.

How Barb uses nicknames. 

Popsqueak and pipsqueak kind of hurt the first few times, sure, but Barb’s laid off them a little now, in favour of words that Poppy considers far cuter. She likes Popcorn and Popsicle and the more recent Strawberry Poptart. It’s more of a mouthful and she’s pretty sure Barb is teasing with it, but it’s cute enough for her. 

Poppy also likes the pet names Barb gives her. Sometimes she greets her with a wink and a ‘cutie’ after she’s set her down on the floor and Poppy’s heart soars. Her stomach does flips every time she hears Barb say babe casually when she means her. 

xiii.

How much Barb cares about her people. 

The world tour was for them, primarily. Her stopping everything and giving it up was for them, primarily. Everything she does is for them and Poppy worries about her sometimes. The weight of her words when she had her captive still hovers, and she knows Barb meant it when she said she felt the constant pressurising need to be a good queen for them. But Poppy thinks she is already and she can tell by the way the rock trolls cheer for her and snap their attention to her that they think so too. 

The kids seem to love her especially. Poppy’s seen Barb sit down with some of the little ones for a good few hours at a time, coaching their guitar skills. The delight that shows on a little troll’s face at a nod of approval from the queen of rock herself is nothing to be laughed at. 

She sees it with Thrash constantly. Barb takes painstaking effort to watch over him as much as he needs or to keep someone else watching over him at all times if she can’t. Everything she does, she does for her kingdom, and she does it for her kingdom to make her dad proud. Poppy finds that admirable. 

xiv.

How Barb is always honest. 

She manipulates the truth a little sometimes, leaves a couple of details out if it’ll help her get her way, but Poppy’s never heard her lie, even once. Sometimes it’s harsh and comes off as blatantly rude. It’s never intended that way, but she’s also never one to shy away from sharing her opinion. 

If she doesn’t have anything nice to say, though, Poppy’s found that she doesn’t tend to say anything. She’s never mean on purpose, not unless she’s talking to someone she thinks isn’t worth any politeness. 

xv.

How quickly Barb reacts. 

Physically, for sure. Branch has tested out how quickly her muscle memory responses to things are - even though Poppy told him to stop throwing things at Barb and yelling ‘heads up’ - and she’s yet to slip up at all. Plus, she’s got quick reflexes for her guitar playing too. 

But Barb also responds quickly whenever anything happens, either in her own city or with any of the other troll villages. After the world tour, she got to work very quickly, sending out the hoards of volunteering rock trolls to help rebuild everywhere she’d torn down, going out and doing plenty of the dirty work herself. 

With Barb at the organising helm of things (which took no small amount of convincing on the other leaders’ parts), things were done fast. It’s a testament to her planning skills, Poppy thinks, that she could so methodically destroy everything the way she did and then just as methodically fix it all. 

xvi.

How hot Barb gets. 

In a totally literal sense, Barb is hot. It’s another rock troll thing, probably volcano based again. She’s naturally pretty warm and it emanates off her. It gets worse when she’s embarrassed, but Poppy likes it when she’s warm, so she can’t help but embarrass Barb a little. 

It’s especially nice when they’re cuddling or holding hands or even hugging for just a few moments. Poppy even finds it comforting now.

xvii.

How quickly Barb switches gears.

A lot of the time, especially when she’s talking to her subjects, Barb is high energy. Her voice is loud and her body language is loose and all over the place. She’s bright and shiny and bellows her words and the lyrics of whatever she’s playing. She breaks things and she gets in scuffles and when hard rock parties go on for days and days, she’s there for every minute of it. 

But Poppy’s also found that it doesn’t take an awful lot of effort to switch her off too. All it takes is a little smile or taking her hand, and Barb crumbles easily, settling down, softening up. Her voice softens and her focus turns to Poppy and she’s just as bright but it’s a focused, central point, rather than her being a ball of hyperactivity bouncing off the walls. She composes herself and pulls together to just give over to Poppy, stepping up beside her but never in front of her if she doesn’t want her to. 

xviii.

How hard Barb tries. 

Doing right by people is important to her. She takes every chance she can get to do that. The intentions of her tour, her rebuilding everything, her even taking the time to do rounds in other kingdoms, just in case they still need anything from her. 

For her people, for the kids amongst them, for the other leaders, for her friends (old and new), for her dad and for Poppy. Every single person she’s met who deserves anything from her gets everything from her. And Poppy loves that about her. 

xix.

And everything else too!


End file.
